South Korean military sees DPRK missile as intermediate-range ballistic missile

Hits: 243 - 18/02/18 12:06

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's military saw the missile, which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired early Tuesday over Japan, as an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

An unnamed military official told local journalists that the South Korean military currently assessed the DPRK missile to have been the type of an IRBM, according to local media reports.

The DPRK fired an unidentified ballistic missile at about 5:57 a.m. local time (2057 GMT Monday) from an area near the DPRK capital city, Pyongyang, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The missile passed over the Japanese northernmost island of Hokkaido and landed into the Pacific Ocean, after a flight of about 2,500 km. It was lofted as high as around 550 km.

The South Korean military estimated the missile to have been the DPRK's newly developed IRBM, Hwasong-12. The DPRK claimed in mid-May to have successfully test-fired the ballistic missile, which traveled some 780 km and was lofted as high as 2,110 km at the time.